Barbarina Heyerdahl, Shelburne

January 1, 2012

Mother, educator and activist

A VPIRG board member since 2011, Barbarina Heyerdahl is a citizen activist, lobbyist, and funder engaged in climate change, sustainable agriculture, and community resilience projects. She is particularly interested in how citizens and government can work collaboratively to address challenging environmental problems. Her love of nature and interest in humanity’s relationship with the natural systems that support us was enhanced by her BA in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic. For the past few years her “day job” has been full-time mother of her four children, but over the past 25 years she has worked at environmental organizations, run an organic vegetable farm, and been a parenting educator and fund raiser at Waldorf Schools in Maine and Vermont. Her activism includes giving public talks, organizing awareness raising events, and lobbying the US Congress and Vermont Legislature. She is a member of the Democratic National Committee’s National Advisory Board and a founding member of Climate Champions, a group of politically active funders lobbying the US Senator to pass climate legislation. She is also a member of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Global Leadership Council and Action Fund Board. In addition she is active in the international grassroots Transition Town movement which helps individual communities reduce their energy usage and carbon footprint. She lives in Shelburne, Vermont with her husband and four children.